Houston strong and proud
The road home: It has been a long journey from I-45 and Fuqua to Toyota Center and the conference finals for Green
To many Houstonians, I-45 is a massive stretch of concrete and asphalt chock full of congestion, exhaust, construction dust and intermittent misery — if the crowded interstate puncturing the heart of Houston crosses their minds at all, outside of when to enter and when to exit.
To Gerald Green, I-45 is one more beautiful artery — a path of freedom and one leading to fascinating places — of the hardy city he fell in love with as a child, a love only nurtured as he lived in faraway workplaces like Russia, China and Dallas.
So in a prominent show of that love, Green got a tattoo of a red, white and blue I-45 sign on his left shoulder.
“I grew up right around I-45 and Fuqua,” Green explained of why he opted for that particular thoroughfare over, say, I-59 or Loop 610. “I used to take that freeway every day, going places. I-45 has always been a key freeway for me.”
Born 32 years ago in Houston and raised on the south side, Green has had a funny thing happen along his highway travels: He has become a key member of a Rockets squad bent on winning the franchise’s third NBA title. His friends and family remind the smooth small forward and exceptional leaper almost daily.
“They always get on me and say, ‘Remember back in the day? You used to always say you wanted to play for the Rockets,’ ” Green said with a grin. “Now that opportunity and dream is finally here.” 14 and 45 his lucky numbers
The Rockets open the Western Conference finals on Monday night at Toyota Center, about 14 miles from where the Rockets’ No. 14 grew up, against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Green, in his first (mostly) full season with the Rockets, doesn’t mind reflecting on what all of this means to him, but he vows not to be caught staring in the rearview mirror — as if he were driving I-45.
“I’m just enjoying the moment, but I don’t want to enjoy it too much, because we still have a lot of work ahead of us,” Green said of the Rockets’ trying to make their first NBA Finals since 1995.
He was 9 years old at the time, and the Rockets’ golden era to date was one more reason Green fell in love with his city.
“Those back-to-back championships,” Green said of his earliest memories of the Rockets. “Rudy Tomjanovich said, ‘Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.’ ”
When the Rockets won all four NBA Finals games against the Orlando Magic in 1995 to secure a second straight title, Green said his jubilant father reacted accordingly.
“My dad had a broken broom — I don’t know why he was carrying a broken broom — and he was going around the house sweeping and saying, ‘We swept ’em!’ ” Green said. “I remember going to the store after that and just seeing everybody honking their horns and yelling, ‘We’re world champions! We’re world champions!’
“That’s something we want to bring back to the city.”
Green already has given his hometown something at least as valuable as a Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy — his time and painstaking effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey last summer.
“When I started seeing the city going through that crisis, instead of me sitting at home watching on TV, I decided to get in my truck and help out as many families as possible,” Green recalled.
He soon after teamed with Houston rapper Trae tha Truth and the musician’s “Relief Gang” to raise money and help families recover from the devastation of Harvey. Meanwhile, Green’s new teammate Chris Paul took it all in and marvels at the proud Houstonian and everything he has done for the city — and for the Rockets.
“Gerald is an interesting guy, and to know him is to love him,” Paul said. “He’s one of those people that if you don’t like Gerald Green, you’re telling me a lot about yourself.”
Green, signed by the Rockets three days after Christmas, averaged 12.1 points per game in the regular season off the bench for the NBA’s top team and has continued playing a role as a key reserve in postseason series victories over the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz.
“He plays hard, the right way, and does whatever the team needs him to do to win,” Paul said. “He wants no credit. That’s why we’ve all been so happy to see how well he’s done here.”
Green (6-7, 205) made a name for himself in Houston long before embarking on a winding NBA and overseas path that eventually led back to his hometown. He played his first few seasons of high school basketball at Dobie, prior to reclassifying as a junior and playing his final two seasons at the now-shuttered Gulf Shores Academy.
“Gerald was about 6-1 his freshman year, and he grew about five or six inches by his sophomore year, when he played on our junior varsity team,” said Kevin Cross, Dobie’s basketball coach, who was an assistant at the time. “We tried to get him in the weight room and get him stronger, and he was really starting to work harder. He was getting there, and we hated to see him leave.
“The decision was made by his parents to go to Gulf Shores, and it all worked out for him in the end.” City close to his heart
Green, who developed into one of the nation's top recruits, had struggled academically in high school and wound up playing two junior seasons: one at Dobie and the other at Gulf Shores. Kendrick Bob played for a Jones High team that won a state title in 2004 behind guard Daniel Gibson, and Bob remembers facing Gulf Shores and Green when Green was a junior.
“He was super thin, and I know it doesn’t look like it, but he’s put on a little weight since then,” Bob said. “In that game, he caught one off the rim and threw it down, and everybody in the gym just jumped out of their seats.”
Bob followed Green’s career path and noticed his former foe’s love for Houston even when Green was playing for eight other NBA franchises along the way, along with making a handful of overseas stops.
“Every time he made a shot,” Bob recalled with a smile, “Gerald was throwing that ‘H’ up in the air.”
Green sports throwback jerseys like that of former Oilers quarterback Warren Moon and Rockets guard Clyde Drexler, among plenty of other Houston legends. He has had the Rockets logo weaved into his hair. And as for his Houston-based tattoos?
“I-45, the Houston skyline, an Oiler (derrick), mom, dad …” Green said before pausing and adding with a smile, “And I’ll have the Astros probably soon.”
Why does he do it? For the love of the game, his hometown and even its heaving highways.
“I’m like any other kid from Houston who wears a lot of Houston stuff,” Green said. “God has blessed me and given me the opportunity to play for the Rockets. I’m trying to give some motivation to a kid who might someday want to wear my jersey.”